Razon-led Prime Infrastructure Holdings Inc. is targeting to deliver the world’s largest solar power facility with a capacity of 2,500 megawatts (MW) to 3,500 MW combined with 4,000 megawatt hours (MWh) to 4,500MWh of battery energy storage system.
The company said the project will be undertaken by Terra Solar Philippines, a unit of Terra Renewables Holdings, Inc., which is a renewable power subsidiary under Prime Infra’s control and in partnership with Solar Philippines Power Project Holdings, Inc.
However, the parties did not disclose the amount and the timeline of the plan.Terra Solar is set to supply 850 MW of solar power capacity to the Manila Electric Co. (Meralco).
The development is seen to benefit Meralco, which will increase its renewable energy sourcing as mandated by the Department of Energy’s (DOE) Renewable Portfolio Standards (RPS) that required utilities to source a minimum percentage of their energy portfolio from renewable energy sources.
“We, at Prime Infra, are delighted to move forward with Meralco on this record-breaking project that highlights solar power’s important contribution to strengthening the country’s energy security — solar, which is normally looked at for peaking, is now being made available by Terra Solar to answer Meralco’s mid-merit requirement, thereby addressing both the need for additional capacity and compliance with RPS. DOE and Meralco should be commended for approving a project that is not only transformational for the renewable energy landscape, but also for managing to do so at a competitive price,” said Guillaume Lucci, Prime Infra president and chief executive officer, in a statement.
Lucci added the company wants to take advantage of the steep decline in installation costs of solar technology over the past decade and the improved battery energy storage system technology, making the plan an “economically critical and socially relevant infrastructure.”
Based on DOE data, as of end-2021, the country’s total installed on-grid capacity from solar plants reached 1,317 MW equivalent to 4.9 percent of the mix while the total off-grid capacity from solar for the period was only at 7.46 MW equal to 1.2 percent.